Articulated handle



Nov. 30, 1965 J- c. SCHMERTZ ARTICULATED HANDLE 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed June 6, 1961 FIGS 7 INVENTOR. JOH N C. SCHMERTZ ATTORN EYS Nov. 30, 1965 J. c. SCHMERTZ 3,220,280

ART I CULATED HANDLE Filed June 6, 1961 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 FIG4 INVENTOR.

JOHN C. SCHMERTZ Mfg r AL Z2.

ATTOR N EYS United States Patent 3,220,280 ARTKCULATED HANDLE John C. Sehmertz, 242 Newhury St., Boston, Mass. Fiied June 6, 1961, Ser. No. 115,141 12 Claims. (Cl. 74471) This invention relates to an articulated handle manual control for the control of vehicles, cranes, machinery and the like.

An object of this invention is to provide a human operator with the capability of employing the separate movements of his wrist and his arm so as to cause separate rotations of each of two segments of the articulated handle, in such a manner as to control the rotations of its output shafts in response to the aforementioned wrist and arm movements.

The lower segment of the articulated handle, called the handle arm, is supported at its lower end in such a manner that it has two degrees of freedom of rotation. The upper segment, called the hand grip, is mounted on the handle arm in such a manner that it has two degrees of freedom of rotation with respect to the handle arm. The handle arm is controlled by means of the operators arm, while the hand grip is controlled by the wrist.

There are two output shafts included in the articulated handle designated as primary. Each of the primary shafts corresponds to one of the rotational degrees of freedom of the handle arm, and rotates in response to the corresponding arm movement. In addition, there are two output shafts designated as secondary. Each of the secondary shafts has a total rotation comprising two components; one component arises from arm rotation of the handle arm, and is equal to the rotation of the corresponding primary output shaft; and the other component corresponds to a separate wrist rotation of the hand grip with respect to the handle arm.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control of this kind in which that component of the rotation of either secondary output shaft resulting from an input rotation of the hand grip relative to the handle arm may, by appropriate mechanical linkages, be either amplified or diminished with respect to the aforementioned relative rotation of the hand grip, so that in the one case, the handle arm rotation may be used as a fine control to modify the coarse control of the secondary shaft by the hand grip, or, in the other case, the relative rotation of the hand grip may be used as a fine control modifying the coarse control of the secondary shaft by the handle arm. For this application, the two secondary output shafts are the outputs of interest and may be directly utilized.

Another object of this invention is to provide a control of this kind where that rotation component of a secondary output shaft which derives from the relative rotation of the hand grip may be mechanically separated out from the total rotation of the secondary shaft, to provide a corresponding, usable output rotation. This can be accomplished with each secondary output shaft, yielding, along with the two primary output shafts, four directly usable outputs. The rotation components are separated out by means of mechanical differentials.

Yet another object of this invention is to provide a control in which the operator has separate and independent control of each of the input rotations (these being the handle arm rotations, and the hand grip rotations relative to the handle arm) along with their corresponding output shaft rotations.

Still another object of this invention is to provide a control device of the character described and wherein the input motions may be performed either simultaneously or in sequence.

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These and other objects and features of my invention, along with its incident advantages, will be better understood and appreciated from the following detailed description of one embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawing, in which:

FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional elevation view of an articulated handle constructed in accordance with my invention;

FIG. 2 is a view similar to FIG. 1 but with different parts broken away;

FIG. 3 is a side view partly in section, of the handle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a view in perspective of a portion of my articulated handle;

FIG. 5 is a detail of a portion of my handle;

FIGS. 6 and 7 illustrate an inferior form of the detail shown in FIG. 5; and

FIGS. 8 and 9 are details of another portion of my handle.

Having reference to the handle as depicted in FIGS. 1 and 2, the handle comprises a hollow wrist-operated hand grip 1, formed with internal projections 3 to accommodate screws 5, which rigidly attach the hand grip to a pair of tongues 4. The tongues are journalled to the cylindrical housing 7 about the trunnions 6, the trunnions constituting a rotation axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of housing 7 and fixed relative to housing 7. Housing 7 is free to rotate about its own longitudinal axis, being journalled to the handle arm 23. As regards other motions, the housing 7 is held in place with respect to the handle arm 23 by the integral collars 22. It is seen from the foregoing that the assembly described above is so arranged that the hand grip 1 may rotate about two mutually perpendicular intersecting axes, one axis being transverse to housing '7 and fixed with respect to it, and the other axis, which is the longitudinal axis of housing 7, being fixed with respect to the handle arm 23.

The handle arm 23 is journalled at its lower end to a carriage 59 by means of the trunnions 58, these trunnions constituting a rotation axis transverse to the longitudinal axis of the carriage 59 and fixed relative to the carriage 59 (see FIG. 4). The carriage 59 is free to rotate about its own longitudinal axis, being journalled at one end to a pillow block 61 by means of the primary output trunnion 60. As regards other motions, the carriage 59 is held in place by the collars 62, integral with the primary output trunnion 60. The pillow block 61 serves as one support for the articulated handle and is integral with the stand 67. It is seen from the foregoing, that the assembly described above is so arranged that the handle arm 23 may rotate about two mutually perpendicular intersecting axes, one axis being transverse to the carriage 59 and fixed with respect to it, and the other axis, which is the longitudinal axis of the carriage 59, being fixed with respect to the stand 67.

The large opening 2 at the side of the hollow hand grip 1 provides clearance allowing the hand grip 1 to rotate about the trunnions 6 without impinging on the housing 7 or the handle arm 23. The hand grip 1 and its opening 2 are of such dimensions that when the operator is facing that side of the articulated handle shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the palm, thumb, and fingers of his right hand can grasp the hand grip 1 securely, with his wrist and his arm in a comfortable position, without covering the opening 2. For operation with the left hand, the articulated handle is installed so that the operator faces the side opposite from that shown in FIGS. 1 and 2. For a permanently installed articulated handle, the left handed operator would face in the opposite direction from a right handed operator. The articulated handle may also be mounted in a position away from the vertical extending horizontally from a wall, for example.

For the hand grip 1, the null, or zero input rotation position is that position shown in the FIG. 2, where the longitudinal axis of the hand grip 1 runs parallel to shaft 32 and perpendicular to housing 7. One alternate form of hand grip may run perpendicular to shaft 32 and housing 7 at the null. Another alternate form may run perpendicular to shaft 32 but parallel to housing 7 at the null. The modifications of the design of the hand grip, as well as the modifications of the mechanism of the articulated handle, necessary to implement the use of the various hand grip forms described above, are considered feasible and require no additional effort of an inventive nature. Any such variations of the hand grip design, with suitable revisions in the handle mechanism, as applied to a handle similarly articulated, are considered to be fully within the spirit of the invention and within the scope of this patent application.

The hand grip 1 and housing 7 assembly is so arranged that the intersection of its mutually perpendicular rotation axes is located inside the hollow of the operators hand. Further, this point of intersection is located such that it fails close to the line of action of the resultant force exerted by the operators arm. If this point of intersection were located far from this line of action, a force from the operators arm, intended to move the handle arm 23 would instead cause a couple to be applied to the hand grip 1, which would either cause an unintended rotation of the hand grip 1, or require a counteracting couple exerted by the wrist, to prevent the unintended hand grip rotation. These undesirable effects are reduced to a minimum by locating the intersection of the rotation axes at the proper point in the hollow of the hand. Human engineering experiments, using a number of human test subjects would determine the optimum location of this point in the handle for the average hand.

Viewing FIG. 1 it is seen that the handle arm 23 has a configuration resembling a stretched letter Z. This configuration serves to locate the intersection of the hand grip 1 rotation axes along a line running through the corresponding intersection of the handle arm 23 rotation axes, which line is perpendicular to the rotation axis formed by the trunnions 58. This particular arrangement is necessary because it aligns the intersection of the hand grip 1 rotation axes (which falls on the line of action of a force exerted by the arm) with the handle arm 23 rotation axes in such a manner that a force exerted by the arm, in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the paper in FIG. 1 will not transmit an unintended couple to the carriage 59. Such a couple would cause an unintended rotation of the carriage 59 for positions where the handle arm 23 is not perpendicular to carriage 59.

One of the tongues 4 is provided with an internal rack 8 arcuate about the trunnions 6 as appears in FIGS. 2 and 3. This rack is in mesh with a pinion 9 which is integral with a shaft 10 journalled in bearings 11, which bearings are integral with the housing 7. The pinion 9 meshes with the teeth 12 of the sliding rack 15, which is formed with lugs 13 on either side. The lugs '13, being confined in the guiding grooves 14 formed in housing 7 serve to support the sliding rack 15 and maintain its mesh with pinion 9. The guiding grooves 14 restrict the movement of the sliding rack 15 with respect to the housing 7 to a sliding motion along the longitudinal axis of the housing 7. The sliding rack 15 is journal-led to a yoke 17 by trunnions 16, the yoke being integral with an elbow 19 which in turn is integral with another sliding rack 20, supported in the guide 21. The guide 21, as a result of its rectangular cross-section, prevents the elbow 19 from rotatingwith respect to the handle arm 23, while permitting it to translate with respect to the handle arm 23. The trunnions 16, together with a clearance slot 18, permit the sliding rack 15 and its housing 7 to rotate about the longitudinal axis of the housing 7 without interference from the yoke 17. The rotation axis of the sliding rack 15 formed by the trunnions 16, is common with the longitudinal rotation axis of the housing 7, so that a rotation of the housing 7 can be performed without interference from the trunnions 16. The sliding rack 28 meshes with a wide faced pinion 28, fixed to the shaft 32 via the notch 31 on the end of that shaft.

An input rotation of the hand grip 1 about the trunnions 6 causes a proportional rotation of shaft 32, in the following manner: Rotation of the hand grip 1 about the trunnions 6 causes a rotation of the pinion 9 via the internal rack 8. The rotation of pinion 9 causes the sliding rack 15 to translate via the teeth 12 on the rack 15. Note that the pinion 9 does not translate with respect to the housing 7 because it is secured to the housing 7 by the shaft 10 and the bearings 11. The translating motion of the sliding rack 15 is transmitted to the sliding rack 28 via the yoke 17 and the elbow 19. The translation of the sliding rack 20 is proportional to the rotation of the hand grip 1 about the trunnions 6, independent of any rotation of the housing 7. The translation of the sliding rack 20 is converted to a rotation of shaft 32 via the wide-faced pinion 28.

An input rotation of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7 causes a proportional upward or downward translation of shaft 32 in the following manner: When the hand grip is rotated about the longitudinal axis of housing 7, the entire assembly, including the hand grip 1, the tongues 4, the housing 7, the pinion 9 and the sliding rack 15 rotates about the longitudinal axis of housing 7. The sliding rack 15, being journalled to the yoke 17 is rotated by the action of the guiding grooves 14 of the housing 7 against the lugs 13. The clearance slot 18 permits the housing 7 to rotate without impinging on the yoke 17. A pinion 25, integral with the housing 7 by means of a shaft 24, and concentric with the axis of housing 7, duplicates the rotation of housing 7. This pinion 25 being in mesh with a rack 26, serves to drive the rack 26 upwards or downwards according to the direction of rotation of the hand grip 1. The rack 26 is restricted to translatory motion by the guides 27 integral with the handle arm 23. This translatory motion of the rack 26 is imparted to shaft 32 via the cylindrical cap 29 at its tapered lower end which cap is journal-led in the widefaced pinion 28 integral with shaft 32.

Note that although the cylindrical cap 29 compels the wide-faced pinion 28 to follow any upward ordownward motion of the rack 26, the pinion 28 is free to rotate about the cylindrical cap 29, so as to drive shaft 32 in response to any driving inputs from the sliding rack 20. 'Further, the wide-faced feature of the pinion 28 permits it to maintain mesh with sliding rack 20 as the pinion 28 slides up or down between its extreme positions. The guides 27 and 33 serve as mechanical stops limiting the translatory travel of the pin-ion 28, and thereby also limiting the rotation of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7.

From the foregoing it will be appreciated that the shaft 32 has been endowed with the capacity to carry two pieces of information; namely one piece of information embodied in the rotary displacement of shaft 32 being the rotary displacement of the hand grip 1 about trunnions 6, and the other piece of information embodied in the translatory displacement of shaft 32, being the rotary displacement of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7. Note that the two perpendicular hand grip rotations with their corresponding motions of shaft 32 may be performed in any sequence or simultaneously.

The guides 33 prevent the shaft 32 from all other motions except the rotational and translational motions described in the above paragraph. Shaft 32 is connected to an intermediate shaft 35 by means of a Hookes joint 34, this intermediate shaft being connected to shaft 37 by another Hookes joint 36. The guides 38 restrict shaft 37 to rotations about and translations along its longitudinal axis. The guides 33 and 38 are so aligned that the shafts 32 and 37 are always parallel. It is well known that when two parallel shafts are connected to an intermediate shaft by means of two Hookes joints, any rotation of the driving shaft is duplicated in the driven shaft, so that a rotation of shaft 32 is duplicated in shaft 37. It may not be well known, but it is easily shown that a translation of the driving shaft is also duplicated in the driven shaft, if it is noted that the intermediate shaft 35 can rotate only about its own longitudinal axis. It is restrained from all other rotations due to the fact that the motion of either of its ends is confined to motion along the center lines of shafts 32 or 37, due to the guides 33 and 38. If any two points fixed on a body are confined to rectilinear motion along parallel paths, that body can rotate only about a line drawn through the two points, in this case the longitudinal axis of the intermediate shaft 35. An input translatory motion of shaft 32 causes no rotation of the intermediate shaft 35 but does cause it to translate by an amount equal to the translation of shaft 32, and in the same direction. The translation of shaft 35 is then duplicated in shaft 37. In view of the considerations mentioned above, it is seen that shaft 37 carries the identical pieces of information about hand grip 1 rotations carried by shaft 32.

The assembly next to be described has the function of separating out the information contained in the rotary displacement of shaft 37, and retaining it in a translatory displacement of a plunger 49. The shaft 37 is free to rotate in the journal 40, and it is provided with a key 42 at its lower end, the key fitting smoothly into a rectangular slot 44 passing through the longitudinal axis of a barrel cam 43. The barrel cam 43 is supported on ball bearings 46 resting on the guides 45. A rotation of shaft 37 is duplicated in the barrel cam 43 by virtue of the key 42 in the rectangular slot 44. The key and slot arrangement also serves to prevent the barrel cam 43 from any sidewise translation. A cam follower 45 rides in a groove 47 formed in the barrel cam 43, the groove 47 cut in a spiral according to the right-handed screw convention and having constant pitch angle, so that a rotation of the barrel cam 43 will impart a proportional translatory motion to the cam follower 48. Integral with the cam follower 48 is the plunger 49 of rectangular crosssection, which duplicates the motion of the cam follower and is restricted to upwards and downwards translatory motion by the guides 45 and 50. The journal 49 offers no impediment to the rotation of shaft 37. Further, the key 42 and the rectangular slot 44 are of sutficient length that the key 42 will not slip out of the barrel cam 43 at the extreme up and down positions of the shaft 37, so that the key 42 can rotate the barrel cam 43 irrespective of the translatory position of shaft 37. From the above, it is seen that the information about the position of the hand grip 1 carried by the rotary displace ment of shaft 37 has been separated out and converted to a translatory displacement of the plunger 49.

Information about the position of the hand grip 1 carried by the translatory displacement of shaft 37 is duplicated in the translatory displacement of plunger 41 in the following manner: The collars 39, integral with the shaft 37, compel the journal 40 to duplicate any translatory displacement of shaft 37. The plunger 41, being integral with the journal 49, translates by the same amount. Note that plunger 41, in a manner similar to plunger 49, is limited to up and down translatory motion by the guides 45.

The mechanism to be described next converts the translatory displacement of plunger 49 to a rotary displacement of secondary output shaft 57. Integral with the lower end of the plunger 49 there is a ball guide 51 (see FIG. 1 and detail FIG. 5) provided with a curved groove 52. A ball 54 fixed to an arm 55 rests in the curved groove 52. The arm 55 is provided with a lug 56 fixing it to the secondary output shaft 57, this shaft 57 being supported by using the primary output trunnion 60 as a journal for the secondary output shaft 57, the shaft 57 and the trunnion 60 being concentric. From FIG. 1 it is seen that a translatory displacement of the plunger 49 up or down will rotate the shaft 57 clockwise or counterclockwise, via the curved groove 52, ball 54, and arm 55. Since the ball guide 51 is constrained by the guides 45 and 50 to a straight path, and the ball 54 is constrained by the arm 55 to a circular path, the ball 54 must move sideways with respect to the ball guide 51 when the plunger 49 is moved. The width of the ball guide 51 and the diameter of the ball 54 accommodate the sideways motion, being of such dimensions that the ball 54 will not slip out of the curved groove 52, nor will the arm 55 cause interference with the ball guide 51 at the extreme positions of the travel of plunger 49. It is to be noted that due to the arrangement of the ball guide 51, ball 54, and arm 55, the rotation of shaft 57 is not strictly proportional to the translation of plunger 49, the ball 54 and ball guide 51 moving along paths of different curvature. This departure from proportionality, although small, is considered undesirable, and it is further minimized by designing for a small angular travel of the arm 55. It is seen that the groove 52 has a length in the plane of FIG. 5 larger than the diameter of the ball 54. This arrangement is necessary to permit plunger 49 to translate when the handle arm 23 has been moved away from the vertical.

The mechanism to be described next converts the translatory displacement of plunger 41 to a translatory displacement of the sliding rack 71. Integral with the lower end of the plunger 41 is a rack 68 in mesh with a pinion 69, this pinion 69 having a concentric trunnion 70 journalled at one end in the handle arm 23. The pinion 69 and the trunnion 70 are concentric with the axis of the trunnions 58. Also in mesh with the pinion 69 is a sliding rack 71, running at right angles tothe axis of the trunnions 58 and parallel to the secondary output shaft 57. This sliding rack 71 is supported by a guide 72 (see FIGS. 3 and 4) fixed to carriage 59 and limited by it to translatory motion with respect to the carriage 59. From the above it is seen that translatory motion of the plunger 41 causes translatory motion of the sliding rack 71, via the rack 68, and the pinion 59. Further, it is seen that the translation of rack 71, arising from the translation of the plunger 41, is proportional to the plunger 41 translation, irrespective of the positions of the handle arm 23 or carriage 59.

The mechanism to be described next converts the translatory displacement of the sliding rack 71 to a rotary displacement of secondary output shaft 84 and is clearly shown in FIGS. 3 and 4. At one end of the sliding rack 71 is an elbow 76 leading to journal 77, this journal being concentric with the longitudinal axis of the primary output trunnion 60. concentrically mounted in journal 77 is a trunnion 78, this trunnion being fixed to a pillow '79. Because trunnions 78 and 60 are concentric, the carriage 59 may be rotated about the axis through trunnion 64) without causing translation of trunnion 78 and its pillow 79. The trunnion 78 and its pillow 79, therefore, may safely be restricted from all motion in planes perpendicular to the axis of trunnions 6t). Integral with the pillow 79 is a curved rod 30 with recess 81, a rack 82, and a rectangular sliding rod 85. A rod guide 86 with rectangular internal cross-section limits the rectangular sliding rod to translatory motion along its longitudinal axis, thereby serving as a support for the integral assembly of the pillow 79, the rod 80, and the rack 82. The recess 81 provides the clearance necessary for sliding rack 74 for a range of rotary positions of the carriage 59. The rack 82 meshes with a pinion 83 integral with the secondary output shaft 84 supported in the stand 67. From the above it is seen that translatory motion of the rack 71 is converted to rotary motion of the shaft 84, irrespective of the rotary position of the carriage 59, via the elbow 76, the journal 77, the trunnion 78, the pillow 79, the curved rod 80, the rack 82, and the pinion 83.

Having described the above mechanisms, it is now possible to trace the manner in which a rotation of the hand grip 1 about the trunnions 6 is converted to a corresponding rotation of the secondary output shaft 57. I have already described how a rotary displacement of the hand grip 1 about the trunnions 6 is converted into a translatory displacement of sliding rack 20 in mesh with the wide-faced pinion 28. It is seen that the resulting rotary displacement of the pinion 28 is carried through shaft 32, 35, and 37, and duplicated in the barrel cam 43, from whence it is converted into a translatory displacement of the ball guide 51 and reconverted into a rotary displacement of secondary output shaft 57 via the ball 54, arm 55 and lug 56. Viewing FIG. 1, and noting that the groove 47 in barrel cam 43 is right handed, it is seen that a clockwise rotation of the hand grip 1 about tr'un nions 6 causes a clockwise rotation of the secondary output shaft 57, and that the converse is true for counterclockwise rotations of the hand grip 1.

Further, it is now possible to describe the'manner in which a rotation of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7 is converted to a corresponding rota- 'tion of the secondary output shaft 84. It has already been described above how a rotary displacement of the hand grip 1 about the axis of housing 7 is converted to a translatory displacement of the pinion 28 and shaft 32. It has been described how the translation of shaft 32 has been duplicated in shaft 37, and duplicated further in rack 68, via the collars 39, the journal 40, and the plunger 41. It is seen that the translation of rack 68 is transmitted to rack 71 via pinion 69, irrespective of positions of the handle arm 23 or carriage 59, and that the translation of rack 71 is duplicated in the translation of rack 82, via the elbow 76, the journal 77, the trunnion 78, the pillow 79 and the curved rod 80. It is seen how that rotation of the pinion 83 and the secondary output shaft 84 which arises solely from the translation of rack 68, is proportional to the translation of rack 68. In FIGS. 1-4 it is seen that a clockwise rotation of the hand grip 1 about the axis of housing 7 causes a counterclockwise rotation of the output shaft 84, and that the converse is true for counter-clockwise rotations of the hand grip 1.

The handle arm 23 rotates the hollow primary output trunnion 60 via the trunnions 58 and the carriage 59, which carriage is fixed with respect to the hollow trunnion 60.

The mechanism to be described next has the function of transmitting a rotation of the handle arm 23 about the trunnions 58 to a rotation of the primary output shaft 94. Secured to the handle arm 23 is a sector gear 73, in mesh with a sliding rack 74, which rack is supported in a guide 75, in a manner similar to sliding rack 71 and guide 72. The mechanism connecting the sliding rack 74 to the primary output shaft 94 is similar to the mechanism connecting the sliding rack 71 to the secondary output shaft 84. In the same manner, it does not interfere with rotations of carriage 59. A rotation of the handle arm 23 about the trunnions 58 causes a corresponding rotation of primary output shaft 94 via the sector gear 73, the sliding rack 74, elbow 87, journal 88, trunnion 89, pillow 99, curved rod 91, internal rack 92, and pinion 93. In FIGS. 1, 3 and 4 it is seen that a clockwise rotation of the handle arm 23 about the trunnions 58 causes a counter-clockwise rotation of the primary output shaft 94, and that the converse is true for a counter-clockwise rotation of the handle arm 23. It is to be noted in this regard, that the rotations of the primary output shaft 94 with respect to handle arm 23 rotations, and of the rotations of the secondary output shaft 84 with respect to hand grip 1 rotations are similar in that each shaft rotates in a direction opposite to its corresponding segment of the articulated handle.

The above-described rotation of the secondary output shaft 57 arising from a hand grip 1 rotation about the trunnions 6, is actually only one component of the total rotation of the shaft 577 Secondary output shaft 57 has an additional rotation component arising from the rotation of handle arm 23 abut the longitudinal axis of shaft 57. Viewing FIG. 1, it is seen that if the hand grip 1 is held fixed with respect to the handle arm 23 while the handle arm 23 is being rotated about shaft 57, the secondary output shaft 57 duplicates the rotation of the primary output trunnion 60. Thus the total rotation of the secondary output shaft 57 has two components, one of these components arising from a rotation of the hand grip 1 with respect to handle arm 23, and the other being equal to a rotation of the handle arm 23. Below means are described by which the hand grip 1 rotation component may be separated out from the total rotation of shaft 57 and directly utilized, if so desired; and also how one of these components may be used for a fine control and the other for a coarse control.

In a manner similar to secondary output shaft 57, secondary output shaft 84 has a total output rotation made up of two components, the one component arising from a rotation of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7, and the other component arising from the rotation of the handle arm 23 about the trunnions 58. Viewing FIG. 1 it is seen that if the hand grip 1 is held fixed with respect to handle arm 23, and if the handle arm 23 is rotated about the trunnions 58, the pinion 69 must duplicate the rotation of the handle arm 23. The total rotation of the pinion 69 thus has two components, one being proportional to the rotation of the hand grip 1 about the longitudinal axis of housing 7, and the other being equal to the rotation of handle arm 23 about trunnions 58. The translation of sliding rack 71, being proportional to the total rotation of the pinion 69 also carries both components, and since this translation is directly converted to a rotation of secondary output shaft 84, shaft 84 carries the two components. Below means are described by which the hand grip '1 rotation component may be separated out from the total rotation of shaft 84 and directly utilized, if so desired; and also how one of these components may be used for a fine control and the other for a coarse control.

It is to be noted that if the handle arm 23 is held fixed in any position, the ratio between a rotation of housing 7 and the corresponding output rotation component of the shaft 84 is always the same constant ratio. Thus, for a housing 7 rotation, the handle operator can always expect a consistent, proportional output of shaft 84 resulting from his wrist input, when he holds the handle arm 23 fixed, in any arbitrary position.

It is to be noted further that the ratio between a hand grip 1 rotation about the trunnions 6 and the corresponding output rotation component of the shaft 57 is not in general a constant ratio, but is influenced by any fixed angular position of the handle arm 23 with respect to the trunnions 58. There is only a slight deviation from proportionality when the handle arm 23 is near the plane of the paper, but the proportionality deteriorates as the handle arm 23 is moved further out. This is shown by the following short analysis: For a given rotation of the hand grip 1 about the trunnion 6, there will be a corresponding displacement of the plunger 49. This displacement will be the same irrespective of the position of handle arm 23. FIG. 6 illustrates how the displacement of the ball 54, and hence the rotation of shaft 57 would vary with the angle of the handle arm 23 for a constant displacement of the plunger 49, if a straight groove 53 is used. The dimension a in FIG. 6 represents the displacement of the plunger 49, which. is equal to the displacement of the ball 54 when the handle arm 23 is vertical. The dimension c in FIG. 7 represents the displacement of the ball 54 when the handle arm 23 is at an angle, and note in that figure that c is greater than a. This variation is the deterioration of proportionality mentioned above, and it is considered undesirable because it might tend to make it difficult for the handle operator to predict the amount of output rotation he will obtain for a given input wrist rotation about the trunnions 6, at certain extreme angular positions of the handle arm 23. The amount of variation, however, may be minimized on the average by curving the groove 52 as shown in FIG. 5. The curvature of the groove 52 shown in FIG. is a circle with a radius equal to an arbitrary displacement of the plunger 49. Here, the displacement of the ball 54 is equal to the displacement of the plunger 49 irrespective of the angle of the handle arm 23, but only for the particular plunger 49 displacement shown on the figure. For other plunger displacements in the same proximity, the variation will be present, but minimized, as compared to the straight groove 53. Whatever curvature is chosen will reduce the variation for certain handle positions at the expense of increasing it for other positions. The optimum design curvature of the groove would depend on the specific design application for the articulated handle, and would be determined for the application by human engineering experiments. Given sufiicient practice with the handle, the operator should be able to adapt to the slight deviation from proportionality at extreme angular positions of handle arm 23. Another method for improving the proportionality for the rota tions in question is to design the handle for small angular rotations of the handle arm 23, i.e. making the handle arm 23 very long.

That hand grip 1 rotation component contained in the total rotation of secondary output shaft 57 may be separated out and directly utilized by the use of a differential, is shown in FIG. 8. The primary output gear 63 in mesh with gear 97 rotates shaft 98 through an angle A. The secondary output gear 64 in mesh with gear 99 rotates shaft 100 through the angle C. Shaft i, by virtue of the differential has a rotation B=CA, which may be directly utilized. This rotation B corresponds to the hand grip 1 rotation with respect to handle arm 23 about the t-runnions 6. The rotation of the primary output gear 63 may also be directly utilized.

To separate the other hand grip 1 rotation component from the total rotation of the secondary output shaft 84, a similar arrangement, using a differential connected with primary output shaft 94 is employed (not shown). The rotation of the primary output shaft 94 may also be directly utilized.

It may be desired only to utilize the total rotations of the secondary output shafts, for the case where the coarse and fine feature of the articulated handle is of sole interest. Either the hand grip 1, or the handle arm 23 may be used for the fine adjust, depending on human engineering considerations. The fineness ratio, in either case may be designed into the handle by varying the diameters of parts 25, 28, 69, 8, 9, or by varying the pitch angle of the groove 47 cut in the barrel cam 43. To vary the fineness ratio for a standardized handle, where the relative proportions of the parts described above may not be varied, reduction gears and two differentials are used for each pair of primary and secondary outputs. FIG. 9 shows the necessary arrangement for primary output gear 63 and secondary output gear 64. Shaft i carries a rotation B which corresponds to the hand grip 1 rotation about the trunnions 6. The corresponding rotation of shaft ii is designated at KB, where K is a constant of proportionality which is determined by the ratio of the diameters of the reduction gears 101 and 102. By virtue of the additional differential, the output rotation of shaft iii sums the coarse and fine components A and KB. To vary the fineness ratio, K is changed by choosing different diameter ratios for the reduction gears 101 and 102. As K is decreased, the hand grip 1 becomes the fine adjust, and as K is increased, the handle arm 23 becomes the fine adjust. A similar arrangement is used for primary output shaft 94 and secondary output shaft 84.

Having described my invention in detail, numerous modifications will occur to those skilled in the art. Therefore, I do not intend to limit the breadth of my invention to the specific embodiment illustrated and described. Rather it is my intention that the breadth of this invention be determined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:

1. An articulated handle comprising a support, a carriage mounted for pivotal movement on the support, a handle arm adapted to be actuated by movement of an operators arm and supported at one end for pivotal movement on the carriage about an axis normal to the pivotal axis of the carriage on the support whereby the handle arm may be pivoted about two mutually perpendicular axes, a hand grip adapted to be actuated by movement of the operators wrist and supported for pivotal movement on the other end of the handle arm about two mutually perpendicular axes, a primary output shaft rotatably mounted on the support, means responsive to pivotal movement of the handle arm about one of its pivotal axes and mechanically connected to the primary shaft for rotating that shaft an amount proportional to the pivotal movement of the arm, a secondary output shaft rotatably mounted on the support, means mechanically connecting the arm to the secondary shaft causing the secondary shaft to rotate in response to pivotal movement of the arm about said one of its axes, and additional means for mechanically connecting the grip to the secondary output shaft causing pivotal movement of said grip about one of its pivotal axes to rotate said secondary shaft, said one axis of the arm and the one axis of the grip being substantially parallel to one another.

2. An articulated handle as defined in claim 1 further characterized by a second secondary shaft rotatably mounted on the support, and separate means mechanically connecting the arm and the grip to the second secondary shaft causing pivotal movement of the arm and the grip about their other pivotal axes to rotate said second shaft about its axis.

3. An articulated handle as defined in claim 1 further characterized by the pivotal axes of the grip on the arm being perpendicular to one another and intersecting one another internally of the grip.

4. An articulated handle comprising a support, a handle arm supported at one end on the support for pivotal movement about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted by movement of the operators arm, a hand grip supported on the other end of the handle arm and pivotable about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted on the arm by movement of the operators wrist, a pair of shafts rotatably mounted on the support, means connecting the arm to each of the shafts causing pivotal movement of the arm about one of its pivotal axes to impart a component of rotation to each of said shafts proportional to the pivotal movement, and means composed in part of components of the previously recited means connecting the hand grip to one of the shafts causing pivotal movement of said grip about one of its pivotal axes to impart a second component of rotation to said one of the shafts proportional to the pivtal movement of the grip.

5. An articulated handle as defined in claim 4 further characterized by two additional shafts rotatably mounted on the support, means connecting the arm to each of the additional shafts to impart a component of rotation to each of the additional shafts proportional to the pivotal movement of the arm about the other of its pivotal axes, and means connecting the grip to one of the additional shafts imparting another component of rotation to that additional shaft proportional to the pivotal movement of the grip about its other pivotal axis.

6. An articulated handle comprising a support, a rotatable shaft carried on the support, an arm pivotally supported on the support and adapted to be pivoted by movement of the operators arm, means connecting the arm to the shaft causing the arm to introduce a component of rotation into the shaft in response to pivotal movement of the arm, a grip pivotally mounted on the arm for movement about an axis substantially parallel to the pivotal axis of the arm and adapted to be pivoted on the arm by movement of the operators wrist, and means connecting the grip to the shaft causing the grip to introduce a sec" ond component of rotation into the shaft in response to pivotal movement of the grip.

7. An articulated handle as defined in claim 6 further characterized by the pivotal axis of the grip on the arm being located intermediate the ends of the grip.

8. An articulated handle comprising a support, a handle arm supported at one end of the support for pivotal movement about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted by movement of the operators arm, a hand grip supported on the other end of the handle arm and pivotable about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted on the arm by movement of the operators wrist, a pair of shafts rotatably mounted on the support, means connecting the arm to each. of the shafts causing pivotal movement of the arm about one of its pivotal axes to impart a component of rotation to each of said shafts which is a function of the magnitude of the pivotal movement, and means composed in part of components of the previously recited means connecting the hand grip to one of the shafts causing pivotal movement of said grip about one of its pivotal axes to impart a second component of rotation to said one of the shafts which is a function of the magnitude of the pivotal movement of the grip, said one pivotal axis of the grip being substantially parallel to said one pivotal axis of the arm.

9. An articulated handle as defined in claim 8 further characterized by means including a difierential connected to each of the two shafts and rendering a mechanical output which is a function of the difference of the two components of rotation imparted to said one of the shafts.

10. An articulated handle comprising a support, a handle arm supported at one end on the support for pivotal movement about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted by movement of an operators arm, a hand grip supported on the other end of the handle arm and pivotal about two mutually perpendicular axes and adapted to be pivoted on the arm by movement of the operators wrist, a pair of mechanically movable outputs mounted for movement on the support, means connecting the arm to each of the two outputs causing pivotal movement of the arm about one of its pivotal axes to impart a component of movement to each of said outputs which is a function of the magnitude of the pivotal movement, and means composed in part of components of the previously recited means connecting the hand grip to one of the outputs causing pivotal movement of said grip about one of its pivotal axes to impart a second component of movement to said one of the outputs which is a function of the magnitude of the pivotal movement of the grip.

11. An articulated handle as defined in claim 10 further characterized by means including a diiferential connected to each of the two outputs and rendering a mechanical output which is a function of the difference of the two components of movement imparted to said one of the outputs.

12. An articulated handle comprising a support,

two output shafts rotatably supported on the support,

an arm supported for pivotal movement about two mutually perpendicular axes on the support, said arm adapted to be pivoted about the axes by movement of an operators arm,

a grip mounted on the end of the arm and free to pivot on the arm about two mutually perpendicular axes that together define a plane substantially parallel to the plane defined by the first mentioned axes, said grip adapted to be pivoted about its axes by movement of the operators wrist,

a connecting shaft geared to the grip and moving translationally in response to pivotal movement of the grip about one of its axes and moving rotationally in response to pivotal movement of the grip about the other of its axes,

linking means joining the connecting shaft to the two output shafts causing rotation of the connecting shaft to rotate one of the output shafts relative to the support and causing translation of the connecting shaft to rotate the other output shaft relative to the support,

linking means joining said arm to each of the two output shafts causing movement of the arm about one of its axes to add a component of rotation to one of the output shafts relative to the support and causing movement of the arm about the other of its axes to add a component of rotation to the other of the output shafts relative to the support,

the intersections of the two pairs of mutually perpendicular axes being aligned with one another substantially perpendicular to the planes defined by the pairs of axes.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 671,947 4/1901 Arnold 74484 772,949 10/1904 Meyer 74484 1,178,017 4/1916 Kainer 74507 1,297,999 3/1919 Bryant. 1,415,176 5/1922 Hughes 74484 X 1,536,515 .5/ 1925 Methlin. 2,026,220 12/1935 Denker. 2,181,883 12/1939 Gibson 74513 2,460,374 2/1949 Walls 74471 X 2,460,494 2/1949 Eisenberg et al. 74478 X 2,480,521 8/1949 Thompson 74471 2,594,593 4/1952 Slecta 74-471 2,659,275 11/1953 Ericsson. 2,787,746 4/1957 Redmond 74471 X 2,885,163 5/1959 De Haven 74-491 X 3,011,739 12/1961 Boyce et a1. 3,108,527 10/1963 Bauer.

FOREIGN PATENTS 420,477 11/ 1910 France. 294,467 1/ 1954 Switzerland.

BROUGHTON G. DURHAM, Primary Examiner.

C, F. GREEN, Assistant Examiner. 

1. AN ARTICULATED HANDLE COMPRISING A SUPPORT, A CAR RIAGE MOUNTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMKENT ON THE SUPPORT, A HANDLE ARM ADAPTED TO BE ACUTATED BY MOVEMENT OF AN OPERATOR''S ARM AND SUPPORTED AT ONE END FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ON THE CARRIAGE ABOUT AN AXIS NORMAL TO THE PIVOTAL AXIS OF THE CARRIAGE ON THE SUPPORT WHEREBY THE HANDLE ARM MAY BE PIVOTED ABOUT TWO MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR AXES, A HAND GRIP ADAPTED TO BE ACUTATED BY MOVEMENT OF THE OPERATOR''S WAIST AND SUPPORTED FOR PIVOTAL MOVEMENT ON THE OTHER END OF THE HANDLE ARM ABOUT MUTUALLY PERPENDICULAR AXES, A PRIMARY OUTPUT SHAFT ROTTABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, MEANS RESPONSIVE TO PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE HANDLE ARM ABOUT ONE OF ITS PIVOTAL AXES AND MECHANICALLY CONNECTED TO THE PRIMARY SHAFT FOR ROTATING THAT SHAFT AN AMOUNT PROPORTIOINAL TO THE PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ARM, A SECONDARY OUTPUT SHAFT ROTATABLY MOUNTED ON THE SUPPORT, MEANS MECHANICALLY CONNECTING THE ARM TO THE SECONDARY SHAFT CAUSING THE SECONDARY SHAFT TO ROTATE IN RESPONSE TO PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF THE ARM ABOUT SAID ONE OF ITS AXES, AND ADDITIONAL MEANS FOR MECHANICALLY CONNECTING THE GRIP TO THE SECONDARY OUTPUT SHAFT CAUSING PIVOTAL MOVEMENT OF SAID GRIP ABOUT ONE OF ITS PIVOTAL AXES TO ROTATE SAID SECONDARY SHAFT, SAID ONE AXIS OF THE ARM AND THE ONE ACIS OF THE GRIP BEING SUBSTANTIALLY PARALLEL TO ONE ANOTHER. 